Parkinson’s Law: work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

Ever gone to a banking hall and found a couple of people in the queue then stayed for such a long time before being served? Then you compared this to when the banking hall is filled with customers and how the queue moves so fast you are served within minutes? Parkinson’s Law. Though to me this is laziness of the highest order. You can go ahead and punch my stomach but that is the truth. There is no way you will take hours to serve me as the third person in the queue then the next moment am the thirty fifth in the queue you serve me within minutes. There is no justification whatsoever.

By the way, those who sit behind those high, heavy glass windows and doors (glass and doors here may also mean power and (or) authority) and look at the queue on the other side, do they imagine that one day they will also stand in the queue to be served? Or have they ever been in the queue before? Because if this thought crossed their minds, or if they indeed passed through the stand-in-the-queue to be served, they would serve the customers faster than is the case – most of the times.

At the end of the day, do you shut your machine, pick your keys and (hand)bag and proudly walk away with your head high having served customers at the rate of one hour per person? Are you proud of that speed? Are you okay that one day when you shall be on the other side you shall be fine being served at that speed and spending your precious time waiting for your turn? Trust me, you cannot live forever behind the glass and the door – under the protection of an institutional rules and systems. One day you shall surely come back to the real world where there is no glass. Think about that. Scary? Should be if you are not kind to the other people.

Hospitals. Sometimes you get to the hospital and get cured even before you meet the doctor. Confused systems, or no system at all. You stay there waiting because you were brought up knowing that justice should prevail to those who follow the law, regulations and procedures. Shock upon you. But the most frustrating bit is the delays caused by some of the staff not doing the part to move the queue even when you are very few in the line. So you wait to be called. And wait. And wait. At the same time the condition of the patient you brought to the hospital seems to deteriorate. But nobody seems to care. Some are taking coffee. Others are just engaged in useless banter, maybe about nothing in particular – shoes in fashion, football, or betting. But why do we behave like this?

This behavior in our country should just stop. Most of the time, unless you know someone, who knows someone who works in the institution you are visiting, you are kept waiting on the cold bench as those with connections get served with a lot of urgency. I do not like this – and am sure most of you do not like this. Even though we may have those connections, it is usually our desire to see systems working perfectly for all the people. We still have trust in humanity that they will treat the fellow human beings well.

We can all relate to these delays.

“Hello?”

“Hello”

“My name is Simon Simon, the Contractor who was tarmacking the 2km road between Six and Seven Avenue. Am following up on the final payment. Is the cheque ready?”

“Ahaaaa…. mmmmmhhhh…… I can see the cheque is here, but one signatory is away and should be back by end of this week Could you check next week Tuesday please?”

“Okay, thank you. Will call next week.”

Next week comes and goes, you make calls, and the same response is given. Signatory not around. Then the next week. Next Month. Next Year. The kind of financial constraint this brings to your life is incomparable. Soon you are staring at bankruptcy. You come to learn that someone’s hands need to be oiled so that the cheque is released. Being the good person that you are, decide to take everything to God in prayer. After some years (in which time you have suffered so much), the management is changed – more of regime change. There are huge reshuffles and major investigations. The backlog of payments is cleared within a month – yours being part of this. The one who was holding the payment is shown the door. Including his/her accomplices. This payment comes in just in the nick of time. You use the money to the bank which was almost being repossessed. These ‘crooks’ not only serve their remaining useful years in jail, but they also lose their properties to the state. Though it may seem that justice finally is served, but the damage caused by their (in)actions remain for generations.

Or those who deliberately delay payments to vendors or clients. Sometimes they bring petty issues and make it mandatory that these issues are corrected first – which may mean starting the process afresh. Usually, these issues are immaterial which begs the question whether they really respect their positions. Or they are lazy, hiding behind the Parkinson’s Law and claiming that there exists the credit period which covers their laziness so that they have some buffer days to sort the payments. Others, either because they do not trust anyone else in the organization, or because of their insecurities, they ensure that they hijack all the processes in the organization. They become so overwhelmed that some items pass through the cracks or they sacrifice their sleep (and family) to the organization – eat, sleep, wake up, breathe the organization.

In 2021 and beyond, could we all drop these not so good habits and strive to be kind to the other human beings? Can we at least try to walk in the other person’s shoes for a mile so that we feel their pain and in so doing try to alleviate this pain? Or we do not care?